Superb Service when I was in need!.....for them the norm
I've been off the forum for a while, largely caused by work, and a bit by the thought/post police, but no need for them to fret, as this is not about banter.
Bear the verbose post, the gold is near the end.
Some may know I drive a Mercedes Vito van (as some may recall,it drove the mystery ride through Franschoek and other passes quite nippily!).....I love it to bits, and, as it was needing a service last year, I recalled x2 posts....1) Geoff (Russell) posted that his perfectly good Merc was taken to a Merc dealer for a service, and between his handing them the keys, and their vehicle inspection, it developed + R20 000 worth of problems....taking back the keys, and a few Hail Mary's sans a drop of water from Lourdes...he drove out in perfectly restored Merc......2) Warren (Ellwood) suggested to try someone he knew, namely Geoff Broardley of Auto Repair Services...414 Landsdowne Road....021-6972634.......Warren rides his KDX with them....I did and they serviced the van in December, ( he also has a Vito)
Now the crunch time....i picked up my staff in Town to go to site and as I tried to restart the van.....dead, I could not turn the 'key' in the ignition, after a few attempts,I gave my guys taxi fare and instructions for the day's work and sent them to site....I now called Geoff at Auto Repair Services,.... to keep it short, he phoned around, numerous calls and tried to fault find, later he arranged for 911 to pick-up the van and take it to a nearby Merc Dealer....I paid 911 @ his cost rate!...The Dealer then took a day and a half to get back to me......faulty ignition switch....a new one to come from Germany up to 15 working days!!!!..In all the time Geoff had been researching more on this issue and kept in touch with me telling me his latest info. He suggested to have the car taken to Russell Omerod of Car Electric in Montague Gardens 021-555 1213, Russell could not attend to it immediately , but 3 or 4 days later I drove out with a new battery in the van, and a possible R15 000 in change to spend on Sushi.....an ignition replacement at a Dealer could run up to R 18 000 !!!!!with no vehicle for up to x2 weeks.
When I requested a bill for his, Geoff B's time and calls.....no charge!,
Dealing with these gents was like dealing with Shane at Atlantic or getting advice from John Carr or Max Langer, a really great pleasure,...Geoff Broadley and Russell, no rip-off, no bull!
Car Electric: Russell trained at Mercedes Benz and knows his electronics.
If you have x4 wheels, which are not on a maintenance plan, give them a call....Well worth itl!!
A New development: I was at Canal Walk this afternoon and bought a few magazines, whilst paying saw the current Noseweek #138 April 2011...it has Arthur J Brown on the cover, as one of his partners in crime? was a client of mine i bought it too.
Lo and behold, page 18 and 19 feature M Benz Culemborg....where Geoff saved his car's soul and his wallet, and where my uneasy feelings caused me to follow Geoff B's suggestion and have it taken elsewhere!!
Neil good to hear from you again.
Thanks for the referal. Fact is, we all need a good mechanic at some time or another.
I am booking my car in at Auto Repair Services tomorrow.
Hyundai Bellvile told me that my 4 year old Getz with 80 000km on the clock needed a new engine or a rebuild after I took it in for a rattling sound in the engine. They arrived at the conclusion that the engine had a piston slap without even opening anything. I didn't have a good feeling about the process and took my car away.
After reading Neil's post I took the car to Auto Repair Services this afternoon where Geoff Broadley had a listen. His opinion is that the noise is unlikely to be a piston slap (for reasons that I don't understand) and more likely to be cam follower but he would like to open the engine to see. Now that makes sense to me. I have a good feeling about GeoffB's abilities.
Thanks for the referral Neil.
Some new developments on all of above:
Hi Chris, regards to G.
Geoff E, I trust all went well with Geoff Broardly....really nice folks!
I mailed a link to this post to Noseweek...the editor.....Martin Weltz phoned me re the above, and Sunday past, at my parents for lunch, I saw the latest Noseweek....turns out my father had people at the Bridge club which he attends, saying they had read his son's letter in Noseweek! Today I called Russell at Car Electric to tell him about the Noseweek article....he said he had already heard about it....customers were coming in saying " I read about you in Noseweek can you take a look at my car."
I'm so glad that good came of my small misfortune, as both Geoff and Russell are great folk, quietly doing good honest work, and heartning to find that in these times, good is being acknowleged, and rewards itself.
The other important part in this was Geoff's (Russell) initial post and Warren's response, and a bit of memory, which saved me from, what would have been, a very expensive visit to M-Benz dearership in town!
When I asked Russell O of Car Electric about the M-Benz dealer...he was most magnaimous,...."They may not have had enough equipment or skills to diagnose correctly"
I can't say I feel as loving towards M-Benz as it nearly wasted +-R 15000 of my monies and did waste +-R 500 of towing money and 2x days whilst they incorrectly diagnosed the fault!
This brought to mind the saying: "For evil to exist, all it takes is that good men do nothing." Geoff and
Warren's posts was a small action a few years ago which bore fruit only recently, and is still doing so!
Ps....Charles, these days I also don't do Windows!!!!!!!, I'm on Mac and Firefox 4.1, how do I set-up spell-check? I don't wish to be like the smelly footed Real adventure riders who sell poorly!
Geoff Broadley and his son Justin ride enduro. I first met them at a KTM social enduro at Bushmans Cave last year. Geoff found my bike's number board and helped me in a few situations. Then at the Matroosberg social funduro him and Justin helped me load and unload the bike and various other things. I found out they run a car workshop, but did not put it together with this post (partly due to interesting spelling of names Mr. Terry).
At the Montague Enduro Justin was among the top contenders, and Geoff did well also. Definitely people to support:
- Geoff Broadley
- Auto Repair Services
- 414 Landsdowne Road
- 021-6972634
Neil - the service by Geoff Broadley was great. he will attend to my car's needs in future. I will express my unhappiness with my car in a separate post.
Charles old chap, i do suspect your" NOT putting things together", as you put it, has/had nothing to do with my spelling and ALL to do with your hearing!!!!
Ps. Did you read my full post, or skim bits like some do, as there is a ps. part about spell check......
We would hate this forum to go to the dogs with puerile spelling now would we not?
Or as one gent put it...."It is you illiterate KTM ous who are giving us a kak name!"........a really funny read in places.
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